January 20, 2012 9:51 am

UPDATE 8:40 a.m. – Just got a call from a skier at Crystal who said he has been told state Route 410 will remain closed and that skiers will have the mountain to themselves again today.

Downed trees on state Route 410 turned Crystal Mountain into a private ski area for about 200 people on Thursday. As an added bonus, they’ll have first crack at first tracks today because they likely spent the night, said ski area spokeswoman Justus Hyatt.

Hyatt said she was only aware of guests who stayed at the hotel or nearby cabins who were at the mountain. Hyatt worked from her Seattle home Thursday because she couldn’t get into work. A road closure warning was posted on the website at about 7 a.m., she said.

Note: Among the stranded skiers was News Tribune photographer Janet Jensen, who filed the photos in this post.

The phone system was down at Crystal on Thursday and attempts to reach several workers on their cell phones were unsuccessful. The ski area has generators to maintain operations during power outages.

She those who have to spend the night at Crystal will be accommodated.

Crystal Mountain’s base area has received 18 inches of new snow in the last 24 hours.

“I’m stuck at home and I’m pretty sure I’d rather be stuck on the mountain where I had 18 inches of new snow,” she said.

Tags:

Blog search

Blogroll

Blog search

Search for:

About

We admit it. We've got great jobs. How many people get told by their bosses to go out and play? We write about those experiences each Sunday in The News Tribune’s Adventure section. But there's always more to the story. Here, Craig Hill and Jeffrey P. Mayor will share the inside stories on their adventures - including their misadventures - plus post news and answer your questions.

We welcome comments. Please keep them civil, short and to the point. ALL CAPS, spam, obscene, profane, abusive and off topic comments will be deleted. Repeat offenders will be blocked. Thanks for taking part and abiding by these simple rules.